


L is for Lynx

by HomeForImaginaryFriends



Series: The A,B,Cs of Mythical Creatures and Monsters [12]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Angst, Child Abuse, Familiars, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Magic, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2019-04-05 11:36:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14043420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HomeForImaginaryFriends/pseuds/HomeForImaginaryFriends
Summary: Akaashi forces himself to do the unthinkable to save the one person he loves most in the world.





	L is for Lynx

**Author's Note:**

  * For [audriel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/audriel/gifts).



> audriel requested Lynx+KuroAka over on tumblr! And I remembered you wanting some angst in your Christmas Wish List so here's the Kuroo rarepair you crave and also, a whole lot of angst! It was very difficult not to continue on and write a happy ending like most of my stories so hopefully you still enjoy it!
> 
> Feel free to drop by and offer up a mythical creature+ship on tumblr (or here!)  
> http://thatishogwash.tumblr.com/

Akaashi attempted to center his breathing as he laid wide awake next to his slumpering Lynx.  Most nights Akaashi dared not allow Kuroo to sleep so close, especially not in the same bed as him but his father was out of town and once Kuroo slunk his way up onto the bed, Akaashi didn’t have the heart to push him away.  Especially knowing what he had to do the next day. It would be his only opportunity to save Kuroo.

 

Akaashi tried not to think about that and concentrated instead on the Lynx next to him.  He was purring softly in his sleep, he weighed around 25 kilograms so he wasn’t all that large and his stubby tail and pointed ears made him more adorable than threatening.  His sharp teeth and claws were no laughing matter, though Kuroo was much too lazy to use either. Akaashi had no idea why any magical creature, let alone one like Kuroo would willingly choose Akaashi as their master.

 

Kuroo curled himself tighter against Akaashi’s chest.  He was like Akaashi’s own personal heater and he would miss that.  He would miss Kuroo’s obnoxious laugh and dry sense of humor. He would miss how easily Kuroo gave affection and accepted it in return.  Akaashi had grown so use to light touches turning into something painful he had forgotten what it was to simply be hugged without worrying a hit would come afterwards.

 

Light streamed in through the shades and Akaashi knew he had to get up.  Everything had already been prepared and he had do this while his father was out of town.  If he was close by he would be able to sense the magic Akaashi would need to gather to make the spell work.  He would still sense it out of town but he’d be too far away to do anything. Akaashi would be severely punished for that but it wouldn’t be anything he hadn’t already experienced before.

 

Punishment on his own body Akaashi could handle but what his father was planning to do to Kuroo?  Akaashi would never recover from it.

 

“Wake up Kuroo.”  Akaashi shook the overgrown cat, who attempted to slink away from his touch and bury himself under the covers.  Akaashi sighed, a put upon noise that did very little to hide his actual fondness for the creature sharing his bed.  He pulled the covers away and was only slightly surprised to see a very human looking man staring back at him.

 

“Too early.”  Kuroo complained, hands reaching out for Akaashi.  He allowed himself to be pulled closer, allowed Kuroo to nuzzle his face into Akaashi’s chest as a deep purr vibrated from his chest.  Akaashi closed his eyes and curled his fingers into Kuroo’s thick head of hair. He always worried he was too rough in his own affection though Kuroo never complained.  Akaashi wasn’t used to the gentle and soft touches Kuroo gave away so easily. It had made Akaashi highly uncomfortable at first but not because he didn’t want them. No, he was uncomfortable because of how badly he craved those touches.  He was afraid he would grow addicted to the feeling and then suddenly they would stop.

 

Akaashi had allowed himself hope when he knew better.

 

“Get up, there’s something I have to do.”  Akaashi patted Kuroo’s head before pulling away.  Kuroo grumbled unhappily but followed along like he always did.

 

Akaashi had wondered why his father had allowed him to form a contract with a familiar.  He had done everything in his power up that point to completely isolate Akaashi from the outside world.  He had very little contact with anyone who wasn’t his father and his father always made sure to keep Akaashi ignorant of most magic.  Akaashi was a wellspring for his father to use and that was it. Until he had taught Akaashi the summoning circle for a familiar. Akaashi had been too thrilled, too eager to please his father to question it fully.

 

Now Akaashi knew the truth and this was the only way he could think of to save Kuroo.

 

“ _ Where are we going? _ ”  Kuroo asked, once again back in his Lynx form as he trotted beside Akaashi out into the woods.  Akaashi father didn’t bother to lock his son up any longer, he knew he had successfully clipped his wings and he would never leave.  He wasn’t strong enough to save himself but Kuroo? Akaashi would give up everything to save Kuroo.

 

Akaashi didn’t answer because he couldn’t.  His throat felt thick and his limbs felt heavy.  He was scared. He had never directly disobeyed his father in any way, shape, or form and he knew the punishment would be severe.  Akaashi had spent his whole life trying to please his father, to get some form of love or acknowledgement out of him and this would only anger him.  Akaashi was terrified but he wouldn’t let that stop him.

 

He knew he wasn’t strong enough to fight his father.  No in physical strength or magically or mentally. Kuroo would try and help Akaashi, he already had so many times and it would only end up with him hurt.  Akaashi was used to pain and he would take a thousand beatings to save Kuroo from just one.

 

“ _ Keiji? _ ”  Kuroo questioned him as Akaashi stopped in a clearing and started to make a circle.  His hand was shaking and he was having difficulty breathing. He didn’t want to be alone again but he wouldn’t allow himself to be that selfish.

 

The power gained from a shared bond with a familiar, magical or otherwise, was exponential.  More power was added the further the bond developed. Akaashi had only known Kuroo a few short months but he knew their bond was strong and ran deep within both of them.  Kuroo would never leave on his own so Akaashi would have to force his hand. It helped that the circle to summon a familiar was the same one used to dismiss one.

 

Killing a familiar was strictly forbidden.  Akaashi’s father studied all forms of Dark Arts and Akaashi had assisted in much of it.  The power Akaashi’s father could pull from his own son when he hurt him, when he bled him was significant.  The power his father could pull from Akaashi when he forced his son to kill his own familiar would be infinite.  Akaashi would be the one blamed for the killing since it would be by his own hand and most likely they would strip him of his magic and throw him away.  Akaashi partially wished for it, to be taken away from his father and to have this cursed power taken away from him sounded perfect to him. But he wouldn’t let it happen at the cost of Kuroo’s life.

 

Akaashi wasn’t strong enough to stand up to his father and refuse to complete the ritual but he could make sure that there was no familiar to kill once his father returned.  Breaking a bond would leave a mark on Akaashi, no other familiar would ever come to his call again and therefor his father could not force him to summon another.

 

Akaashi pressed a hand against his mouth, feeling ill as he surveyed his work, the chalk he had used to draw the circle slipping from his suddenly numb fingers.

 

“Keiji what are you doing?”  Kuroo asked though he must know what the circle was.

 

“Come here.”  Akaashi said weakly.  Kuroo took a step back, now in his human-guise once more and shook his head.

 

“Please don’t do this, whatever it is we can work it out together.”  Kuroo pleaded and Akaashi saw panic on his face, saw hurt in his eyes.

 

“Come here.”  Akaashi said in a stronger tone, pressing magic into it to make sure Kuroo couldn’t disobey.  Kuroo stumbled into the circle looking as if Akaashi had slapped him. Akaashi felt bile rise in his throat.

 

“Please Keiji, you don’t understand what this will do to me.”  Kuroo tried once more, his eyes brimming with tears. “I can do better.”  A broken sob worked its way out of Akaashi. The words were so familiar to him, things he had said to his own father time and time again.

 

“He wants me to sacrifice you.”  Akaashi said, tried to get Kuroo to see that this was the only way.

 

“We can fight him together or we can run away, anything but this.  Don’t make me go,  _ please _ .”  Kuroo reached out for Akaashi but he pulled on his power, imagined the bond inside of him connecting him to Kuroo.  Kuroo fell to his knees with a cry as Akaashi ripped it apart.

 

Bright light flooded the area and Akaashi shut his eyes against it.  The power that had been brought up with the circle slowly dissipated and then disappeared completely.

 

Akaashi opened his eyes and stared at the empty woods around him, Kuroo nowhere in sight.

 

Akaashi took a couple steps back to the house before his legs gave out on him.  He collapsed onto the cold, hard ground and curled in on himself. He tried to press a hand over his mouth, to contain the ugly sobs breaking out of him but it was no use.  He hadn’t raised a hand to Kuroo but he had still betrayed him, still hurt him just as much. Akaashi would have given anything to run away with Kuroo, to start anew someplace just the two of them but he couldn’t.

 

Kuroo would never understand that.  The weakness inside of Akaashi that just wanted his father to accept him.  He was terrified that weakness would talk Akaashi into hurting Kuroo, torture him the same way his father tortured Akaashi.  He knew Kuroo would see it as the betrayal it was, that Akaashi was picking his abusive father over his loving familiar and that’s why Akaashi needed to let Kuroo go.

 

Kuroo deserved someone better, someone stronger.  Not someone damaged beyond repair at the age of 16.

 

Akaashi curled more into himself, let himself cry like he hadn’t since he was a child.  Tears only infuriated his father more, made the beatings last longer and Akaashi had long since shut that beaten child away inside himself.  But he allowed himself this small moment of complete misery for what he had lost and the painful future he had to face.

 

Akaashi had saved Kuroo and that was all that mattered, even if he had damned himself.


End file.
